HEALTH UPDATE

Exhale. My biopsy tests came back NORMAL, which means that there wasn't any traceble cancer cells observable in my blood. It means a clean bill of health! Much love to all for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.

Questions people often ask me in regard to my health:

How am I feeling?
Feeling great, strong, energy still high. No debilitating side effects, just nausea at times in the evening after I pop my pills. Yech. You wouldn't know that I'm sick, as a matter of fact, I'm planning my next endurance event for the year.

How long do I have to take the medication? What happens if I stop?
At this point, indefinitely, or until a cure is found, max dosage 800 mg of Gleevec daily. It's not as bad as it sounds, I still am fortunate enough to have a high-quality of life, and extended years since my diagnosis (1/03).

So my meds are still effective, the cancer cells haven't mutated and built up a resistance to my treatment. I'm technically in remission, but there are likely still cancer cells in the blood, just not observable. Basically, the cancer would come back in full force if I stop taking my meds. There are some other drugs in the testing stage that seem to be even more effective than Gleevec. My oncologist says that I'm in a good place even if a worst case scenario comes up.

What is bone marrow biopsy? Does the biopsy hurt?
It's a process for extracting a sample of bone chip and marrow from the center of the hip bone (those two protrusions in the small of your back). The samples are sent to the lab for testing. I basically lie on my stomach and the doc uses a needle to 'extract' the specimen. They anesthesize the area but unfortunately you can't anesthesize the bone. So it does hurt a little, kind of like boring a searing-hot needle through my brain by way of my eyeball. No, it just hurts for a while. I'm fully awake but I have some sleepy drugs to take the edge off. I also have my ritual of always wearing my Adidas sweatpants and Crocs, and listening to my iPod (Vivaldi or Bocelli). Plus the nurses will hold my hand or rub my head, no really, they do, it's like their maternal instincts kick in when they see a full grown man crying in pain :) My owie is still tender for about 2-3 weeks afterward.

The best news is that there are new 'normal' blood tests (from your arm) that seem to be as effective as a biopsy. So my doc says this may be the last biopsy I'll ever need. The future routine tests will just be from my arm. Yahoo.

Sidenote: my favorite nurse Alicia wasn't there for my procedure. We're always yakking and making each other laugh. I called a couple weeks later and she said she was out the past few months going through chemo, breast cancer. Just got back on the job. Stay strong girl!

Living life one day at a time,

Roman

(pic: street luge. not me, but how life seems at times)